"Holy Cow" and "God Wills It"

I need to post a new picture so you can marvel at how ginormous I have become, but just to give you a hint I'll share this little moment from my OB appt. on Thursday. There's one little nurse who is always moving at light speed, going from one exam room to the next, taking blood pressure and ushering women in and out. She's very enthusiastic, and I think she especially likes us because we are the token foreigners who can (sort of) speak the language. Thursday she had me step up on the scale and as she kept moving those little slider things further and further over, she finally blurted out, "Ma'sha Allah!" which is kind of a combination of saying "God wills it!" and "Holy Cow!". Then she said my weight out real loud, and then burst into giggles. We use kilos here and I had reached the 100 kilo mark (I'm too embarrassed to tell you how many pounds that is!). Apparently she doesn't weigh a lot of women of my size (women here are TINY!). The story goes down hill from here (i had gained 4 kilos since my last appointment, my Dr. kept saying, "I expect you to PUSH! This is gonna be a BIG baby!" and then my blood pressure was high (again) so i had to do (another) urine and blood test and go buy a blood pressure cuff so i can take my blood pressure at home twice a day). The Dr. also scolded me for not exercising ("You must walk AT LEAST 30 minutes EVERY DAY!) . . . but she did say that Maya looks fine, she still has the right amount of fluid around her, etc., etc. And, after taking my blood pressure 3 times during the visit, it was back down to normal before we left the office, so I'm still convinced it goes up just being in the hospital, surrounded by a waiting room full of irritated pregnant women who have had to wait way too long, and then hearing the nurse say "Holy Cow!" when she weighs me. . .

Baby Shower in Kansas

Do you know those ladies in your life (for me they are ladies from the church I grew up in) who have known you through every awkward developmental stage, every rebellious stage, every bad haircut and just about everything else? I think there is something really special about having ladies like this in your life. And my special ladies had a baby shower for me and maya on sunday via skype! There are several things that set this apart from the last (wonderful) skype shower we had. The biggest thing was just the blessing of getting to see ladies who have known me and whom i have known for many many years. ladies who took us to camp each summer (God bless you Debi!) Ladies who celebrated my high school graduation and my college graduation. Ladies who cried with me when I said goodbye and headed for East Asia. Ladies who squealed with delight when they heard about Matt and I getting together. Ladies who were there to see us get married (and blessed us in so many ways at that time of our lives). Ladies who cried again when we left for the Middle East. Even though I haven't seen these ladies in more than two years now, I know that these are ladies who have not forgotten about us. As each lady came over to the computer to say a greeting or share a special gift for Maya or share a word of encouragement, I was so blessed to be reminded (again) that I am a part of a BIG family.

Where we live, big families are the norm, and it's common for people to get together with their families every weekend. There are times when this has left me feeling very lonely, and very much like an outsider. But the Lord puts the lonely in families! Not only has he placed Matt and I in a group of people here in our city who really love one another like family, He was gracious and kind enough to remind me on Sunday of these wonderful ladies who though we are on the other side of the earth, remember us and pray for us and love us. They are the Body of Christ, and the way they loved and served us and just celebrated the excitement of our coming baby was such a blessing. Preparing to have our first baby in a strange culture, so far away has brought me to tears more than once in the last 8 months, but the Lord has been so faithful to remind me again and again that I am not alone, and not only has He given us His Spirit, He has also placed in our lives many many people who love and support us in so many unique ways.

Check out pictures of all the fun we had on my mom's blog:
http://thecedarsofpittsburg.blogspot.com/2009/10/skype-shower-for-kellie-and-maya.html

Thank you Debi, especially, for loving me like I'm yours and for planning the whole shower. I can't wait to see that sleeper with the tutu up close and all the precious socks you girls crafted for Maya. She is going to be one stylish girl. Seriously.

Vacation in Egypt

Our vacation in pictures

it doesn't get much better than bottomless chips and salsa

at "On the Border" in Cairo

Matt's eyes got really big when he saw his food come

and he got his usual chicken enchiladas

then we flew onto Sharm el Sheikh on the tip of the sinai penninsula where matt dove 9 times during the week and Maya and i snorkeled several times

we met up with good friends who love diving even more than mj

and we enjoyed the AMAZING artistry of God's creation under water

this was the view from our room up on the rocks

this is what the resort looked like

unfortunately our room was way up at the top--more than 120 stairs

more wonders under the sea

check out the red coral stuff! so cool!

these were some big daddy fish

this guy was ENORMOUS--doesn't he look grumpy?!

our group out on the diving boat.

THE END!

A Place to Lay Her Head

the best handyman ever

getting the lowdown

the finished product!

Baby Belly On Vacation

For those of you who have requested it, here's the latest baby belly photo I have. This picture was taken on the dive boat that we took out on the Red Sea for Matt and some of his buddies to go diving and for me and Maya to do some snorkeling. Matt and I both just had birthdays, so this was a vacation and a birthday celebration, as well as what some have told us is now called a babymoon. Apparently that's when you take a last trip before having a baby. With ocean creatures on my mind, I have affectionately nicknamed Maya the baby octopus, for her amazing ability to bump me in numerous places in my belly, all at the same moment. She is getting big and I can really feel her taking up more space now, and kicking some strong kicks! She also has some funny patterns I have been able to notice (like when i lay on my side, she gets way up in my side and does something that feels like she's trying to tickle me from the inside). I think she really liked the snorkeling. One day when we were out on the boat the water had a LOT of big waves and the boat was rocking pretty hard while we waited for the guys to finish their dive. She slept through it but at one point I thought we might have to chuck our cookies in the beautiful blue waters while Daddy was diving deep below! I will write more about vacation as well as post lots of pics--one of the guys in our group had an underwater camera so he was able to capture much of the beauty of God's creation under water! So . . . to be continued.

Rocking Chair

My husband is so wonderful that he spent time on HIS birthday getting me a special early birthday present. Since our birthdays are only a few days apart, and my birthday will come while we are on vacation, he decided he needed to get me something special before we leave. So he used his free time on his special day to get me something special for my special day. He got me this great rocking chair for Maya's room! It is really comfy and I can't wait to start putting it to good use!